Background Negative symptoms in schizophrenia are associated with impairments in social and cognitive functioning leading to substantial long-term disability. Available antipsychotic treatments have demonstrated only modest benefit in the improvement of negative symptoms. Objective To compare improvements in negative symptoms among patients treated with paliperidone palmitate 3-month (PP3M) or paliperidone palmitate 1-month (PP1M) long-acting injectable (LAI) formulations. Methods Data from a randomized double-blind (DB), phase-3, non-inferiority study in patients with schizophrenia were analyzed. Following screening, patients entered a 17-week open-label (OL) phase to receive flexibly dosed PP1M followed by a 48-week DB phase where patients were randomized (11) to receive either PP1M or PP3M. Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) total scores with emphasis on 7-item negative subscale scores for PP1M vs PP3M were assessed. Results Of 1429 patients enrolled, 1016 were randomized to receive PP3M (n=504) or PP1M (n=512). At baseline, mean (SD) PANSS negative subscale was 23.2 (4.60) and negative symptom factor score was 22.3 (4.87), indicating moderate-to-severe negative symptoms. Negative subscale and symptoms factor scores showed continuous improvements throughout OL (15.9 [4.99]) and DB (14.9 [4.81]) phases. Mean (SD) changes from DB baseline in the PANSS negative subscale score were comparable between PP1M (-1.4 [3.67]) and PP3M (-1.4 [3.63]) treatment groups. Conclusion Treatment with PP3M or PP1M demonstrated comparable improvement in negative symptoms in patients with moderate-to-severe negative symptoms and in patients with prominent negative symptoms. Long-term treatment with PP3M demonstrated benefit, suggesting that continuous antipsychotic medication treatment for &gt;1 year is needed to achieve greater benefit for negative symptoms. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT01515423. © 2020 Gopal et al.Objective To study predictors of the number of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) sessions required for symptom remission in psychiatric patients. Patients and Methods We conducted chart reviews for 95 patients whose condition remitted following inpatient ECT. We analyzed the clinical characteristics of the patients and compared the number of ECT sessions between adult (age 18-59 years) and elderly (age ? 60 years) patients. Results The overall mean ± SD of the number of ECT sessions was 11.8 ± 4.7 (range 6-24). By diagnosis, it was 13.3 ± 5.5 for individuals with schizophrenia, 10.1 ± 2.7 for schizoaffective disorder, 14.4 ± 5.6 for bipolar depression, 9.4 ± 1.9 for bipolar mania, 10.9 ± 4.3 for major depressive disorder (MDD), and 11.8 ± 4.3 for those with other diagnoses. For MDD, the number of ECT sessions in elderly patients (13.4 ± 4.6) was statistically greater than that in adult patients (9 ± 2.9) (p = 0.008). Conclusion The number of ECT sessions varied by age and diagnosis. The number of ECT sessions in elderly MDD patients was higher than that in adult MDD patients. © 2020 Ittasakul et al.Background A growing body of research suggests that major depressive disorder (MDD) is one of the most common psychiatric conditions associated with suicide ideation (SI). However, how a combination of&nbsp;easily accessible variables built a utility clinically model to estimate the probability of an individual patient with SI via machine learning is limited. Methods We used the electronic medical record database from a hospital located in western China. A total of 1916 Chinese patients with MDD were included. Easily accessible data (demographic, clinical, and biological variables) were collected at admission (on the first day of admission) and were used to distinguish SI with MDD from non-SI using a machine learning algorithm (neural network). Results The neural network algorithm distinguished 1356 out of 1916 patients translating into 70.08% accuracy (70.68% sensitivity and 67.09% specificity) and an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.76. The most relevant predictor variables in identifying SI from non-SI included free thyroxine (FT4), the total scores of Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD), vocational status, and free triiodothyronine (FT3). Conclusion Risk for SI among patients with MDD can be identified at an individual subject level by integrating demographic, clinical, and biological variables as possible as early during hospitalization (at admission). © 2020 Ge et al.Purpose Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease. The α-Synuclein is a major component of Lewy bodies and Lewy neurites, the pathologic hallmark of PD. It is known that α-Synuclein is phosphorylated (p-α-Synuclein) in PD and tau-hyperphosphorylation (p-Tau) is also a pathologic feature of PD. However, the relationship between p-Synuclein and p-Tau in PD is not clear, in particular in the MPTP model of PD. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/shield-1.html The purpose of this study was to reveal their relationship in the mouse MPTP model. Methods Firstly, the p-α-Synuclein, α-Synuclein, p-Tau and Tau protein levels were analyzed. Then, GSK3β activation was determined using immunoblot and immunohistochemical staining. Finally, the dopaminergic neurodegeneration was assessed using Tyrosine Hydroxylase (TH) staining and retrograde labeling and microglial marker were labeled. Microglial activation and nigrostriatal pathway degeneration were observed. Results The results showed that p-α-Synuclein, α-Synuclein, p-Tau and Tau were upregulated in both hippocampus and substantia nigra of the PD mouse model. Furthermore, p-α-Synuclein and p-Tau were localized in the same regions of substantial nigra (SN) and dentate gyrus (DG) of hippocampus (Hippo). The activated form of GSK3β (phosphor GSK3β Y216) was increased in multiple brain areas. The GSK3β inhibitor AZD1080 injected in MPTP mice suppressed the expression of p-Tau and p-GSK3β and improved motor functions. Conclusion These findings revealed that p-α-Synuclein and p-Tau proteins are key pathological events leading to neurodegeneration and motor dysfunctions in the mouse MPTP model of PD. Our data suggest that the interference with the GSK3β activity may be an effective approach for the treatment of PD. © 2020 Hu et al.